christenson



E. CHRISTENSON.

RAILWAY GATE OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I7, 1921.

1,41 1,408. Patented Apr. 4, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET1- 5 @Ill 1 I/VI ENTOR E77252 6 brisk/25022. B Y

A TTORNE Y E. CHRlSTENS-ON.

RAILWAY GATE OPERATING MECHANISM.

. APPLICATION FILED MAR I7, 192!- 1,41 1,408.

2iEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

/] TTOR NE Y UNETED STATES rarer crates.

ERNST CHRISTENSQN, F STOCKTON, KANSAS.

RAILWAY-GATE-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed March 17, 1921.

useful Improvements in Railway-Gate-Opcrating Mechanism; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of refence markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to railway gate operating mechanism and theprimary object thereof is to provide means whereby a railway gate orbarrier will be moved to obstructing position in response totrain-actuated'mechanism upon the approach of a train and will be movedout of obstructing position when the train is passing or has passed thecrossing guarded by the gate or barrier.

The invention also contemplates a novel form of barrier which willnormally obstruct the passage of trailic over the crossing when thebarrier is in obstruction position, but which will yield under pressureso that dangerof damage to a car or person who accidently runs into thebarrier will be climinated. v

Means is also provided for operating a signal when the barrier is movinginto ob struct-ion position, the signal being preferably an audible one.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- F ig. 1 is a perspective view of a railway crossingto which my invention applied, the barrier being shown in obstruct-ionposition.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the train-operated trips forcontrolling the actuation of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the barrier and its operating mechanism,part of the housing or casing therefor being broken awaytoillustrate theinterior thereof.

7 Fig.4;is a perspective view of the barrier.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the barrier showing a segmental dog forholding: it in its raised position.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1922.

Serial No. 453,133.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the dog moving oil the segmental rackas the bar rier reaches its vertical position, and

Fig. 7 i a like view showing the barrier in its obstruction position,the dog dropped away from the rack.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference:

1 designates a portion of a railroad track and 2 a crossing to beguarded by the barrier or gate constituting one cram elements of myinvention.

A. suitable distance away from the cross 1ng 2 is a trip 3 consisting ofan upstanding lever 1 on a rock shaft .5, journaled in the casing 6 andprovided with a rigid cam '7 adapted to contact with the arm 8 ofa bellcrank lever 9 journaled in the casing. The end 9' of the bell cranklever 9. is in the form of a dog to engage ineither of the recesses 10or 10 of a segmental rack 11, rigid'on the shaft 12 in the casing 6. J

The rock shaft 12 supports an upstanding slot-ted lever 13, which is inpivotal engagement with a lever 14 on a shaft 15. journaled in thebracket 16 which is mounted in the housing 17. The shaft carries a shoeor cam 15' adapted to ride against the head 18. which is connected tothe verticallymovable rack bar 19 through the link 20rigid with the head18, the link being in slotted engagement with the bracket 16, as clearlyindicated in Fig. 3.

The rack bar 19is provided at its lower end with an elongated slot 21,through which the shaft 22 projects. The shaft carries a double cam 23adapted to bear against the step or projection 24. rigid on the lowerportion of the rack 19 so that when the shaft 22 is rotated in eitherdirection by actuating mechanism to be later described, the rack barwill be depressed or moved downwardly. trip arms 25 and 25' and arm lare adja cent to the rail to be actuated by the car wheels as the trainpasses over the track.

The upper end of the vertical rack 19 is connected to the stem 26 of apiston 27 of. a dash pot 28 and the piston is normally urged intocompression stroke within the dash pot by a spring 29, one end of whichis connected to the casing 17 and the other to the rack 19.

The rack is also guided in its upper end in a slotted guide bracket 19',to which one end of a coil spring 30 is attached, the other This willoccur when the end or" the spring being connected to an oiiset 31,integral with the rack bar 19. The normal tendency of the spring is toraise the rack bar 19 and the springfir') tends to maintain the teeth ofthe mo bar 19 in engagement with a pinion 33, carrying a .springrpresscdpawl 34 to engage a ratchet 35 on a shaft 36, horizontally disposedwithin the casing; 17 and provided with a triction clutch 37 at one endto drive a spur gear 38 in meshwith gear 39 on a shalt 40. to which thebarricr is rigidly secured.

The shaft ell) carries a beveled ratchet gear 4:1, the beveled teeth ofwhirh: mesh with a beveled gear d2 on a shaft -13. The shaft- L8 carriesa, fly wheel .or weightedv mm wheel -14 at one end and at the other aplurality oi? .tappets #iwhich may strike against a bell or sgongafiwhen the shaft 4-3 is rotated to make an, audible signal.

The shaft 40 is also rigidly connected to the ,barrie1",arm-l7,whichisproyided with an ofi'setrend 48, carrying a. supplemental arm 49.pivoted thereto at by an inclined pivot member so that normallythemember 49 will be folded back on 47, as shown in Fig.8, but when themember 47 is in a horizontal positio1i.,.the inclined pivot 50 willpermittheextcnsion arm 19 to gravitate orswing outwardly intoaextendedposition. as shown indotted lines'in Fig. 4.

The arm 47 rigidion the shaft 40 also carries. a pawl 51; which isadapted to intermittently engage the segmental rack .52, tastened on thesideof the casing 17. Adjacent to thesha'ft 86 is a gear 53 on-a shaft54;. a The gear 53 meshes with-the gear 38 and with the teeth 55 on acounterbalance weight 56, carried by a bar 57, one end of which ismovable in a guide-5S and the other provided witlra slot 59. throughwhich a headed bolt projects. The counterbalance weight, through themedium of the gears 53, 38 and 39, will tend to counterbalance thebarrier consisting of the members LT and 49. the weight of the weight 56being slightly less than thatol' the barrier.

The trip arms 25 and 25 are connected to rock shafts 61 and 62;. beingnormally held in their vertical positions by the springsfi j andfia,which bear against them,

7 the rock shafts 61 and 62 having dependmg crank arms 65 and'66,connectedto the pivot 267 for the lovers 13 and let by links tilted bycontact with a wheel, the rock shaft to which it is attached will berocked and, through the-link connection 68 or 69, as

the case maybe, the lever arm 14: Will be ling so as to impart movementto the shaft 15, causing the cam or shoe 15 to ride on the head or shoe1S and through the link -90 push llllGgtOOlihBtl portion of the bar 19out oi contact with the gear 33, allowing the gearing consisting of thegear 33, gears 38 and counterbalance 56, gear 39 ant gears 4-1 and, torun'frcely and since there will be nothing to hold up the arm 47,the-barrier must drop to a horizontal position, such as shown in Fig.'4'. and the: extended arm will'swing outwardly, as shown in dottedlines in F g. 4.

The-gravitation of the arm 4:7 to a'horr zoutalposit-ion will'impartanianpetus to the shaft 43through.thegears-41 and 42, the inertia ofthefiy wheeled imparting a continuous irotation to the shaft 43 after thearm ei'ihasmoved to .-horizontal position since the gears 41 andelQ mayrun independent ot. any [movement of .the shaft elO. theshaft continuesto spin in-its bearings. the tappets 49, which may be yieldinglyconnected to the shaft 13, will strike against the gong or'bell 46 for a0011- siderable time after the barrier is in its obstructing position.

If, by any chance, the barrier happensyto be struck t-hat is, if the arm49 should hap pen to be struck by a motor vehicle or contactedwith by aihorse or other animal, the arm will'gire sufliciently to preventwrecking the barrier.

\Vhcn the arm 1-]; is swung in either direction, it is=obyious that theshaft 12- will also he rocked through the medium of the arm 13 sothat'thc-toothed portionll' of the elbow lever 9 will drop into one of athe notches ldor lO', thereby holding the arm 14 in'position so that thecam 15 will remain in its locked positionagainst the head 18land throughthe link 20. hold the lever 19 out'ot'. engagement with the teeth of theratchet wheel 35 so t-hatthc gate can movc to its horizontal posit-ion,the rack bar 19 being maintained out of engagement with its ratchetwheel during this time. Then when the first wheel in the train-strikesthe arm 4; the shaft 5 will be rocked, causing the cam 7' to strikeagainstthe arm 8 of the elbow lerer 9 and withdraw the detent or dog 9from engagement with the notch in the segment 11. permitting the springQQto'pullthe bracket back into toothed engagement with itsratchetwheel.

At the same time the rock shaft 5will cause the double cam 23 to bearupon the foot or flange 24; to impart a downward movement to the rackbar 19 against the spring 30. The downward movcnientof the rack bar 19will rotate the gcar -lil and,

through the gear 33, rotate the shaft 36, imparting motion to the gear38, the gear 39 and shaft 40 so that the barrier will be raised slightlywith a step-by-step movement as the wheels of the train continue tostrike against the arm a.

The first time the wheels strike against the arm a, the gear will rotatethe shaft 40 sufiiciently to allow the dog 51 to engage in the first orsecond tooth of the rack 52, rigid on the casing 17. The next time thearm -l is struck, the barrierwillbe swung to a slightly greater are, thedog 51 engaging the proper tooth to hold it in that position, and thiswill continue until the barrier is raised to a vertical position. whenit will drop off the dog-as shown in Fig.

If the train is a long one and the arm at is actuated a greater numberof'times than will be necessary to raise the barrier to a verticalposition, the shaft 36 will continue to rotate but on account of theslip clutch 37, the gear 38 will not be rotated. The continued movementsof the arm l, cam 22 and rack 19 will continue to rotate shaft 36without rotating the gear 38, the resistance of the barrier 47 beingsufficient to allow the shaft 36 to rotate without rotating the gear 38.

lVhen the train strikes the arms 25 or 25, as the case may be, and therack teeth are pushed away from the gear 33, there should be a timeelement involved; that is, the teeth on the rack 19 should not engagethe gear 33 until the barrier has dropped to its horizontal position.This is provided for by the dash pot 28, which will allow the piston 27to move outwardly to draw air in through the pet cock 72, which may beregulated, but as soon as the wheel passes over the arms or 25 and therack has moved away from its gear, the barrier will start to move to ahorizontal position and during this time the rack will be moved backinto engagement with the gear 33, the time required being determined bythe pet cock 72-.

It will also be apparent that the detent 9 constitutes a positive lockto hold the rack 19 out of engagement with its ratchet wheel during thetime that the gate is moving to a horizontal position. the timing deviceconsisting of the dash pot or check being capable of operating onlyafter the train has actuated the arm l to release the detent 9 fromengagement with the notch 10 or 10', as the case may be.

It will, therefore, be seen that the device is automatic in itsoperation and that it may be actuated from either side of the crossing.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. A railway gate operating mechanism comprising a shaft, a ratchetwheel on said shaft, a reciprocating rack for operating the ratchetwheel, a spring normally urging the rack in one direction, a springconnected to the rack to normally hold it in engagement with the ratchetwheel, a train-actuated cam for reciprocating the rack against theaction of the first named spring, train-actuated means for releasing therack out of engagement with the ratchet wheel to allow its shaft to turnindependently of the rack. and a barrier controlled by the shaft.movable into obstructing position when the ratchet wheel is releasedfrom the rack.

.2. A. railway gate operating mechanism comprising a shaft, a ratchetwheel on said shaft.a reciprocating rack for operating the ratchetwheel. a-spring normally urging the rack in one direction, a springconnected to the "rack to normally hold it in engagement with theratchet wheel, a train-actuated cam for reciprocating the rack againstthe action of the first named. spring, train-actuated means forreleasing the rack out of engagement with the ratchet wheel to allow itsshaft to turn independently of the rack, a barrier controlled by theshaft, movable into obstructing position when the ratchet wheel isreleased from the rack, a counter-balance weight for the barrier havingrack teeth, a gear meshing with the rack teeth, and a gear on the firstnamed shaft meshing with the gear which is in mesh with the rack teeth.

3. A. railway gate mechanism comprising a casing, a horizontal shaft insaid casing, a ratchet wheel for driving said shaft, a reciprocatoryrack having teeth for engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, aprojection on the rack, a train-actuated cam for longitudinally movingthe rack in one direction to actuate the ratchet wheel so as to turn itsshaft, a tension spring for moving the tick in an opposite direction, atrainactuated means for moving the rack out of engagement with theratchet, a dash pot for timing the return movement of the rack to meshwith the ratchet wheel. a barrier shaft driven by the first named shaft,and a barrier on the second mentioned shaft.

4. A railway gate operating mechanism comprising a casing, a shaft insaid casing, a ratchet wheel on said shaft adapted to rotate the shaftin one direction but to rotate idly about the axis of the shaft in anopposite direction, a ratchet-actuating rack bar normally in mesh withthe ratchet, trainactuated means for moving the rack bar in onedirection to rotate the ratchet to turn its shaft. a spring forretracting the rack bar to rotate the ratchet idly about its shaft,train-actuated means for temporarily moving the rack bar out of meshwith the ratchet, and a barrier actuated by the shaft.

A railway gate operating mechanism comprising a casing, a shaft in saidcasing, a ratchet wheel on said shaft adapted to rotate the shaft in onedirection but to rotate idly about the axis of the shaft in an oppositedirection, a ratchet-actuating rack bar normally in mesh with theratchet, trainshaft, :-1=spring for retracting the rack bar to'lotatethe ratchet idly about its shaft, train-actuatedmeans i'ortemporarilymoving the rack bar out-of mesh with the "atchet, a spring normallurging the rack bar into engagement with the'ratchet Wheel, a check toyieldingly oppose the movement of the rack bar into engagement with theratchet Wheel, anda barrier actuated by the shaft.

6. A railway gate operating merhanism comprising-a casing, ashat't insaid casing,

a ratchet WhGGl IHOUIItQd on the shaft to actuate the shaft When theWheel turns in one direction and to turn idly in an opposite dii iiigioarection about the axis of: the shaft, a reciprocatory rack bar normallyinmesh W th the ratchet Wheel, a 'PIOJGCUOR on the rack bar,

a trainm'ctuated;rock shaft, a cam on the rock shaft to'ride 011 theprojection onthe' rack to impart longitudinal movement thereto inonedirection, a spring for retracting the rocltshaft, an arm pivoted to therack, a train-actuated rock shaft having a partto ride on the end of thearm to move the rack out of engagement with the ratchet Wheel, means torreturning the rack into mesh with the ratchet Wheel, means foryieldingly re sisting the return movement, and a barrier controlled bythe first named shaft.

In testimony whereof I allix mv signature.

ERNST CHRISTENSON.

